Posts Tagged ‘infiniti f1’

The Infiniti Q60 Black S is just a concept - for now, but company officials want to build it.

Infiniti has long been envious of rivals like Mercedes and BMW, with their high-performance sub-brands AMG and M, but the Japanese maker hasn’t been able to come up with the right formula for its own sports line.

It spent a couple years toying with the Eau Rouge concept, but now it’s moving from red to black – Project Black S, that is – and may have found a performance concept it can call its own. The Geneva Motor Show marks the debut of Infiniti’s Project Black S, with a specially modified version of its Q60 using an electric boost system derived from the maker’s Formula One program.

Infiniti will show off a hybrid-powered concept version of the Q60 coupe in Geneva.

Infiniti is going from red to black – not on the bottom line but on the street.

It plans to introduce what it is describing as a “radical reinterpretation” of its Q60 coupe at the Geneva Motor Show next week, a vehicle that marks the debut of what it calls “Project Black S,” an “exploration” of a new high-performance brand-within-a-brand.

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While Nissan’s luxury marque isn’t tipping its hat much in advance of the Swiss car show, Project Black S appears to be a reincarnation of another high-performance sub-brand project Infiniti had explored a few years ago, called Eau Rouge. But it will take a very different approach under the hood.

Infiniti offers the first image of the Q50 Eau Rouge Concept - and asks fans to help reveal more.

Infiniti has released the first image of its “race-inspired” Q50 Eau Rouge concept a little more than a week before the prototype will make its debut at the 2014 North American International Auto Show.

The Eau Rouge, Infiniti explains “draws inspiration” from the Formula One program that pairs the Japanese luxury maker and its four-time World Champion-winning partner, Infiniti Red Bull Racing.

Infiniti offers a glimpse of the Q50 Eau Rouge concept coming to Detroit next month.

Hoping to burnish its performance image – and emphasize its return to Formula One racing – Infiniti plans to reveal a high-performance concept based on its new Q50 sedan at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show.

The show car will be dubbed the Q50 Eau Rouge, its name a reference to the world-famous turn on the F1 track in Spa-Francochamps – one known for its ability to trip up even the most skilled veteran race driver.

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The maker isn’t saying much about the specifics of the Eau Rouge, though in a release, Infiniti suggests the “concept blends road car technology and a thoroughbred motorsport vision.”

The Q50 introduced earlier this year is the latest version of the old Infiniti G sedan – but it’s more than just a simple product update, and coincides with some major changes at the Nissan luxury brand.

Nissan gets serious about motorsports with its new LMP2 racer making a Sebring debut.

Nissan has a long and rich history in sports car racing that dates back to 1966. Here in America, they raced the little Datsun 510 sedan, the famous 240 Z and its successors, and a raft of Nissan-powered sports prototypes that competed in IMSA GTP prototype and Group C racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Nissan came roaring back to prototype racing at the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring — where it won overall victories in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1994 — as an engine supplier to the French Signatech team racing in the LMP2 class for prototypes will small engines. Signatech’s campaign was led by French drivers Soheil Ayari and Franck Mailleux and 25-year-old newcomer Lucas Ordoñez, who got the seat by playing PlayStation 360 GT5 against all comers in the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy competition in 2008 — and training in real cars ever since.

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“Nissan is excited to see our new partnership with Signature kick off and we look forward to a very successful partnership with the team,” said Jon Brancheau, vice-president for marketing at Nissan. “I know our customers, fans and dealers will be following our progress at Sebring and will be anticipating our return to the Le Mans 24 hours.”

The Signatech Nissan racing team will contest the entire 2011 season of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) series. The 7-race schedule includes Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 1000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps and a return to U.S. soil for the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Saturday, October 1, 2011, followed by the season-ending event in China.

Infiniti will be teaming up with last year’s dominant force on the Formula One circuit, the world champion Red Bull Racing team.

While its Japanese rivals have found the F1 racing circuit too rich for their taste, the Nissan luxury brand is betting the world’s most popular motor sports venue can provide an affordable platform to help Infiniti continue its long-awaited global roll-out.

The new deal also pairs Infiniti with its French alliance partner, Renault, which provided the engines that helped Red Bull drive to the Formula One World Championship last year. It was, in fact, a twin victory, the Red Bull team taking both the team and driver’s championships.

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“Over the mid-term, Infiniti will be simultaneously expanding its global presence and broadening its product range,” explained Senior Vice President Andy Palmer. “Given these twin ambitions, it is clear that Formula One offers us an unrivalled global communications platform.”